I’m in the middle of the an eleven day hiatus from the cottage. Home for a dentist appointment and church meeting, for time with friends, , and this weekend, we’re off to visit our daughter. All good, all necessary, all part of the balance with my solitude at the cottage. However, eleven days of socializing feels a little out of balance to me. Recently I’ve been reading about hermits, discovering a new understanding of what a hermit might be. NOT, the stereotype of someone (usually a man) who wanders off into the woods, grows a long beard, and then appears years later to die. I’m drawn toward what I might call a religious hermit; one who goes back and forth, spending time alone and then going out to do good work in the world. The centering, the time alone, helps the work be freely offered, freely received. I like to think of my life this way although I fall mighty short all the time. However, I believe that we all want balance between our introvert and extrovert selves, and so I continue to search for it. It’s like a seesaw ride, sometimes up and down, up and down, other times steady and even.